


Bargain in a Cage

by wasted_truth



Series: The Rickest Morty [2]
Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Child Neglect, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 02:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11221362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasted_truth/pseuds/wasted_truth
Summary: This is an origin story for Evil Morty and the Rick that came before Evil Rick. Part of my series “The Rickest Morty,” which began with the story “Isn’t That What This Is All About?” I don’t know how many stories I have in my head for this series…we’ll see?





	Bargain in a Cage

“I’m looking for a bargain.”

 

Morty looked up from the wires he had been twisting together out of sheer boredom. He was sitting in what could best be described as a corral, surrounded by other Rickless Mortys. Most of the young boys were murmuring to each other, in pairs or small groups, while sitting on the floor. It was risky to talk to loud or play games – the guard Ricks didn’t like it. Keeping still and quiet from morning until night was difficult for a bunch of boys who were all approximately eight years old, but the guards were scary.

 

Morty didn’t socialize with the other Mortys. He didn’t want to, and they liked to whisper about him anyway. He just played with the wires that he had managed to conceal in his pocket. The guards had probably seen the wires, but no one had given him a hard time.

 

The source of the voice was a Rick that blended in with the majority of Ricks. He had the spiky grey hair, lab coat, light blue shirt, and was talking to a guard Rick that Morty recognized as the one who oversaw the Rickless Morty corral. Morty wasn’t sure of his rank, but he had a lot of medals on his uniform.

 

“How much of a bargain?” Rick-In-Charge asked.

 

“Dirt fucking cheap.” The stereotypical Rick picked at his fingernails.

 

Rick-In-Charge gestured over the corral with his rifle. “Plenty of cheap Mortys. But that one there,” he pointed to Morty, who nearly dropped his wires, “is the cheapest of all. Of course, there’s problems with him.”

 

“Oh? How’s that?” Both Ricks were now staring at Morty, who wanted to disappear under that combined gaze.

 

“Most of these Mortys are here because their Rick died, went to prison, whatever. However, that one was dumped here by his original Rick. Said the kid made a shitty shield, too smart or something. We tested him. His brainwaves are practically a Rick’s. Useless.” He sounded disgusted.

 

“Really…”

 

Salesman Rick was brought into the conversation, and that’s how Morty wound up with Rick of Dimension D-608 for 1,000 credits. Rick D-608 haggled it down from C2,500, of course. Once he was purchased, Morty was released from the corral and led to his new Rick at gunpoint. Rick D-608 put his hand on Morty’s upper back and guided him away from the Morty crowd that had been his home for months now. Morty could hear loud murmuring from the Mortys behind him.

 

“Hey! Shaddup, you fuckin’ kids!” one of the guards yelled and rapped the base of his gun on the fencing.

 

Without a word, Morty was led through the Citadel. He never really had the chance to look around, except for what he could see from the corral, so he took in the high spired ceilings, the crowds of Ricks with their child Mortys in tow. There was much more variety in the Ricks than he had seen so far – different species, different clothes, an actual indication of individuality. He did notice with disappointment that most Mortys looked the same, with few exceptions. They were more accessory than anything to their Ricks.

 

“When was the last time you ate?”

 

Morty’s head jerked to look at Rick. It was the first thing the man had said to him. “U-Um, last night?”

 

“Come on.” Rick D-608 took him by the upper arm and walked him over to a lunch counter of a place called _Rick’s_. He ordered Morty a hamburger and fries and himself a beer.    

 

Morty dove into his food. It was much better than the bland, school-lunch type food he had been eating, and he was hungrier than he thought. With his hamburger half gone, he remembered his manners. He wiped ketchup from his lip. “T-Thanks. U-Uh, sir.”

 

Rick D-608 finished a sip of beer and looked over at him. “Christ. It’s just Rick. And we have to do something about your stutter.” He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and fished out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lit one and took a hit with great relish. Server Rick dropped an ashtray in front of him. “So your Rick dumped you?”

 

Morty nodded, now embarrassed to speak because of his stutter.

 

“That’s fucked up. You’re too Rick-like? I think I can work with that. What made him think that? Did he test you or something?”

 

Shaking his head, Morty swallowed the last of his burger and moved onto the fries. “Not right away. He got detected by…someone…gromflomites?...while I was with him. T-Then he tested my brain.” He swiped several fries through a blob of ketchup. “He didn’t like that I tried to build stuff either.”

 

Rick ashed his cigarette. “Not open-minded. I want to see you build something. What dimension are you from?”

 

Morty shrugged, stuffing his face with fries. He didn’t think his first Rick had ever told him. His first Rick hadn’t told him much of anything. Morty had just started to tag along on trips and help with experiments when he’d been rejected.

 

“Well, kid, when you’re done, we’ll go to your new home. Just you and me, I’m afraid. But D-608 isn’t bad.” Rick polished off his beer, cigarette still balanced between his thin fingers.

 

“W-What about my family?”

 

Rick’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Your Rick took you away from your family?”

 

Morty nodded as he swallowed. “Y-Yeah.”

 

The man took a long drag of his cigarette and ground the rest out in the ashtray. Exhaling a cloud of blue-grey smoke, he said, “Pretty sure that’s against Council rules. Well, my gain, I guess. It’s not like I fucking know where you came from.”

 

Morty wouldn’t really miss his family. He always felt shuffled around by his parents and Summer was old enough to start developing her own friends and life. When his first Rick had started showing an interest in him, Jerry and Beth had practically shoved Morty in his direction. He overheard them once, telling his original Rick that he was too introverted and lived too much in his own head.

 

_“It would be good for you to take him out, Dad,”_ he remembered Beth saying. _“He needs to come out of his room sometimes.”_

 

It never occurred to Morty that he had stopped thinking of his original Rick as Grandpa Rick when he had gotten dumped at the Citadel.

 

“Are you done?”

 

Morty realized his plate was clean and nodded yes.

 

“All right, let me settle up and we’ll go.”

 

After Rick paid with a Citadel card, he led Morty through the vast openness of the Citadel, to a wing that led to docked ships. Morty vaguely remembered walking down this hall months before. Rick kept pace with his child’s legs, occasionally guiding him out of the way of Ricks and Mortys. When they reached the end of the long hallway, they were greeted by a group of guard Ricks. Morty instinctively cringed, but Rick merely pulled out his card, which was scanned.

 

“Rick of Dimension D-608?”

 

“In the fucking flesh.”

 

“Thumbprint, please.” The guard held out a pad, and Rick pressed his thumb against it. The pad made a pleasant chirp. “Just a moment.” That guard disappeared into an adjacent room while two others remained standing stiffly, rifles across their chests. The first guard reappeared, juggling two pistols and a portal gun. He passed these over to Rick. Rick pulled back his lab coat, and Morty saw a holster strapped on each thigh, which Rick neatly tucked each gun into. The portal gun he slipped into his lab coat pocket and motioned for Morty to follow him.

 

They walked down a long ramp and then into what Morty’s child mind could only associate as a large hanger, filled with ships of varying shapes and sizes. Rick led them to a ship that looked better than most; some were so poorly constructed that they looked no better than a bunch of tin cans held together with cables. Rick’s ship was sleek and rectangular, instead of the common UFO theme. Rick pulled a key fob out of a pocket and switched the ship on. Blue lights ran along the bottom and the ship came to life with a low hum.

 

Rick pointed to the passenger side. “Go on, get - *buuurp* - in.”

 

“O-Okay.” Morty scurried around to the other side and ran the tips of his fingers over the slick surface of the ship as he did so. He let himself in and hopped up and down on the seat, unable to control the first burst of childish excitement he had felt in a long time. “Oh w-wow! What kind of stabilizers are those? You actually built in your headlights!”

 

Rick started to pull out of the hangar, toward the openness of space. “Put your seatbelt on.”

 

“Oh yeah!” Morty grabbed the belt. “This is the nicest ship, like, wow!” He looked at Rick with huge eyes as he clicked the belt into place.

 

The ship quickly picked up speed and Rick steered with his left hand while entering a number on a keypad with his right. “Well, then this is going to blow your fucking mind, kid.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Watch.”

 

Morty had just enough time to look up before Rick punched a last button. There was a loud buzz and a band of lime-green light shot out from the front of the ship. A huge portal formed in front of them and Rick guided the ship right to it.

 

“D-608, your new home, Morty.”

 

They passed through the wall of swirling green light.  

**Author's Note:**

> I've tagged this as "Original Rick Sanchez" so it's clear that I don't mean Rick C-137. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
